Bruno Mars

One-third of the Smeezingtons, the production group behind K'naan's Wavin' Flag and Cee Lo Green's Fuck You (among others), Bruno Mars leapt into the spotlight this summer and scored his own number-one hit with the soft rock ballad Just The Way You Are.

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As the title suggests, his debut LP favours smooth harmonies and easy-breezy pop melodies delivered by Mars in his boyish, R&B falsetto. The word "lightweight" was invented for records like this - ones that nail a commercial formula but are utterly devoid of heat, emotion or compelling personality.

Cutesy lyrics with insipid rhymes like "You can count on me like one, two, three" abound on songs that play out less like a cohesive album and more like no-brainer radio references to Coldplay, U2, Michael Jackson, Sade, Feist and so on.